Trump leaves South Florida after angry New Year’s Day tweets, golf

PALM BEACH. – President Donald Trump ended his two-week, South Florida Christmas vacation and headed back to Washington, D.C. late Monday afternoon with cheering supporters lining the route from his private club to the airport.

Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron Trump, boarded Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport together at approximately 4:19 p.m. The president stopped twice to wave, according to press pool reports.

President Trump bid farewell to 2017 with a lavish party at his private club, before kicking off the year with angry tweets about Iran and Pakistan and then playing golf.

On Twitter Monday, Trump attacked Pakistan, saying: “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”

It was not immediately clear why the president decided to comment on Pakistan.

The U.S. has long accused Islamabad of allowing militants to operate relatively freely in Pakistan’s border regions to carry out operations in neighboring Afghanistan. In August, the United States said it would hold up $255 million in military assistance for Pakistan until it cracks down on extremists threatening Afghanistan.

On Iran, Trump seemed to be responding to widespread anti-government protests there. He tweeted Monday that Iran is “failing at every level” and voiced support for the protesters, saying it is “TIME FOR CHANGE.”

While some Iranians have shared Trump’s tweets, many there distrust him as he’s refused to recertify the nuclear deal and because his travel bans have blocked Iranians from getting U.S. visas.

Heading into the party at Mar-a-Lago Sunday night, Trump predicted 2018 will be a “tremendous year.”

Trump said the stock market will continue to rise and that companies are going to continue to come into the U.S., at “a rapid clip.” He also cited several accomplishments, including the tax overhaul, opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, and repealing the individual mandate from the national health care law.

Asked for his reaction to North Korea leader Kim Jon Un’s remarks about having a nuclear button on his desk, Trump responded by saying, “We’ll see.”

Shortly before 9 a.m. Monday, the president’s motorcade pulled into Trump International Golf Club. The White House later said Trump was playing golf with PGA Champions Tour player Fred Funk and his son, Taylor Funk